Gandolfini's body returned to U.S.

From Jamie Zahn-Liebes, CNN

Updated 2:40 PM ET, Mon June 24, 2013

Photos: 'Sopranos' star James Gandolfini16 photos

'Sopranos' star James Gandolfini – James Gandolfini, who gained fame playing a memorable mafia boss on HBO's "The Sopranos," died after suffering a heart attack in Italy on Wednesday, June 19. Pictured, Gandolfini at the premiere of "Zero Dark Thirty" in 2012.

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Photos: 'Sopranos' star James Gandolfini16 photos

'Sopranos' star James Gandolfini – Gandolfini and Jane Fonda attend an after-party for the HBO series "Newsroom" in Hollywood on June 20, 2012.

'Sopranos' star James Gandolfini – Gandolfini watches the New York Jets play the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium on December 24, 2011, in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

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'Sopranos' star James Gandolfini – Gandolfini with his wife, Deborah Lin, at the premiere of HBO Films' "Cinema Verite" at Paramount Pictures Studio in Los Angeles in 2011.

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'Sopranos' star James Gandolfini – Gandolfini arrives for the world premiere of "Violet & Daisy" at the Elgin Theatre during the Toronto International Film Festival on September 15, 2011.

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'Sopranos' star James Gandolfini – Gandolfini arrives at the 2011 BAFTA Brits To Watch Event at the Belasco Theatre in Los Angeles.

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'Sopranos' star James Gandolfini – Gandolfini visits with service members and civilians on Kandahar Air Field, Afghanistan, on March 29, 2010, during a USO tour.

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'Sopranos' star James Gandolfini – Gandolfini, Jeff Daniels, Marcia Gay Harden and Hope Davis during the curtain call of the opening of the Broadway play "God of Carnage" on March 22, 2009, at the Broadway Theatre in New York.

'Sopranos' star James Gandolfini – Gandolfini with Edie Falco, left, and Lorraine Bracco at the DVD launch party for "The Sopranos: The Complete Fifth Season" in 2005 in New York.

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'Sopranos' star James Gandolfini – Gandolfini accepts the Television Drama Award at the GQ Men of the Year Awards in 2000.

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Story highlights

Gandolfini's remains arrived on Sunday night, according to a family friend

A funeral will be held Thursday in New York

The "Sopranos" star died in Rome last week of a heart attack

He had been on vacation with his son

The body of actor James Gandolfini has been returned to the United States, a family friend said Monday.

A charter flight to Newark, New Jersey, on Sunday night carried the body of the "Sopranos" star, Michael Kobold said.

An autopsy determined his death was the result of a heart attack, Kobold said.

A funeral service for family and friends is scheduled for Thursday in New York, Kobold said. It will be held at The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in Manhattan.

Gandolfini, 51, died last week while on a working vacation in Rome. He arrived there with his son, Michael, the day before he died.

"Jim was happy, he was healthy, he was doing really fine," Kobold said recently. "He was on vacation with his son. He has an 8-month-old daughter. Everything was going great. I just spoke to him on Father's Day."

The same day Gandolfini died, he had visited the Vatican and dined with his son, the family said. After he returned to his room, his son alerted hotel staff that he was not answering knocks on the bathroom door.

Hotel staff broke down the door to get to him and called an ambulance, said Tiziana Rocca, head of a film festival the actor was planning to attend.

Gandolfini was in Italy to receive an award at the Taormina Film Fest in the Sicilian town of Taormina.

Instead of the award ceremony, the festival paid tribute to Gandolfini's lifetime achievements.

The actor shot to fame on the HBO drama "The Sopranos." In the widely successful series, he played Tony Soprano, a tough New Jersey crime boss. He also appeared in various movies, including "Zero Dark Thirty" and "Killing Them Softly."